Houston adds NHL vet, first-rounder

The Houston Aeros have signed NHL veteran winger Rem Murray to a professional tryout contract, the team announced Saturday. In addition, the NHL’s Florida Panthers have loaned center Petr Taticek, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, to the Aeros.

Both players are expected to join the Aeros prior to Tuesday’s game in Omaha.

Taticek, 22, totaled 41 points (11g, 30a) in 130 games over the past two seasons in the AHL with San Antonio. Before that, the 6-foot-2, 183-pound native of Rakovnik, Czech Republic, played two seasons of junior hockey for OHL Sault Ste. Marie. Florida took him with the ninth overall pick in 2002.

Murray, 33, has spent eight seasons in the NHL, totaling 213 points (93g, 120a) in 551 games with Nashville, the New York Rangers and Edmonton. He made his professional debut with the AHL’s Cape Breton Oilers in 1995-96, recording 90 points (31g, 59a) in 79 games as a rookie out of Michigan State. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound native of Stratford, Ont., was Los Angeles’ sixth-round pick in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.